Monday, August 27, 2007 Comics steal Pacquiao’s show in fans day
MANNY Pacquiao got a lovely break from his preparation for his rematch with Marco Antonio Barrera on Oct. 6 and had not a few light moments in the process.
Yesterday, it was not just Manny Pacquiao who had fun but everyone including his teammates at Team PacMan, their opponent the Cebu Sports Media and the boxing fans who came to troop to the Cebu Coliseum for yesterday’s Fans Day.
The comic relief were provided by comedians Dennis Padilla and Long Mejia—who were in Pacquiao’s team.
The two known celebrity friends of Pacquiao were clowning around that gives everyone a very Sunday laugh.
That was the second straight Sunday Pacquiao had a hearty laugh inside the hardcourt. Last Sunday, it was his trainer Buboy Fernandez and RWS Stable trainer Roberto Bubuli Jr. who tickled him pink inside the court.
And for two consecutive Sundays—Pacquiao’s team bested the mediamen , this time by a wider margin, 102-93.
Mejia and Padilla, who are known friends of Pacquiao, didn’t give a damn doing comical antics for free as it gives the Filipino ring superstar, a breather of his week-long training at the gym.
Conspiracy
One of the antics that drew more laughs was when Pacquiao dribbled around—twisting and turning—before passing to Mejia. The “mad” Mejia was furious, returned the ball to Pacquiao and challenged the super featherweight superstar to a fist fight while pulling his jersey over his head.
There was also one moment that Padilla also pulled the shorts of Mejia, Padilla overshooting a free throw way above the board then scratching his head. But the biggest laugh was when the trio conspired with a referee.
The three passed the ball back to each other in an attempt to use all the time in the shot clock. When the clock dwindled, Padilla passed the ball to the referee under the basket.
The referee gamely converted the uncontested shot.
But aside from the comical show, Pacquiao’s younger brother Bobby stole the limelight by showing that in basketball, he has got the better of his more famous sibling.
Bobby showed he has a good leaping ability and good shooting hands to finish with 21 points.
leaders
Team PacMan dominated the game with the Pacquiaos leading the way.
However, as Sun.Star Cebu columnist John Pages showed the basketball stuff he is made of, CSMA caught up and pulled a 42-39 lead at the half.
It was a close quarter battle in the third before Team PacMan banked on Jing-Jing Rama to pull away in the fourth quarter.
Rama topped Team PacMan with 26 points, while Manny finished with 17. Pages topped the sports media with 29 markers followed by The Freeman’s Manny Villaruel with 23 and Roy Aznar of RPN-9 with 20.
